Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Wow, that’s a mouthful. And this tea is a mouthful of deliciousness. This organic Chinese green tea is sweet with just a hint of almost salmon-like butteriness. I’ve paired it with lemon verbena, marshmallow roots and lemon-, marshmallow- and pastry- organic flavors. Be prepared to have your socks knocked off with this one..
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was excited when I saw the announcement for this Lemon Meringue Mao Zhen Hair Needle Green Tea as the tea of the week for March 23rd from 52Teas! I love Lemon Meringue Pie! And I got even more excited after I read our SororiTea Sister Nichole’s review of this tea. I really couldn’t wait until I was able to find the time to sit back and enjoy this tea!
My first sip or two of this tea were not as impressive as the rest of the cup for me. I took those first couple of sips when the tea was still very hot because to be honest, I couldn’t wait to try it. I mean, hello? Lemon Meringue? I want!
But the tea hadn’t cooled enough yet for the flavors to really emerge the way they began to after a few more minutes of cool time. After about six or seven minutes, the flavors really began to establish themselves in the cup. Now I can taste the tangy lemon notes – imagine lemon curd but not the lemon curd you’d buy on the grocery store shelves! Think to a homemade lemon curd or even to your (insert name of baking relative here)’s lemony filling for their lemon meringue pie. That’s the lemon flavor I’m talking about! It’s bright and sunny and vibrantly lemon-y, but not so tart that I’m puckering. There’s enough sweetness to the ‘filling’ taste that I’m getting a strong, assertive lemon-y flavor but I’m not puckering as if I just bit into a lemon wedge.
After the lemon note, I taste the fluffy marshmallow notes that mimic the sweet, creamy meringue flavor and even a hint of buttery pie pastry. Delicious!
And I’m happy to say that the green tea flavor isn’t lost in this tea. I taste grassy, vegetal notes from the green tea. Instead of “melding” or “marrying” with the lemon meringue pie flavors to create a unified flavor, this tea tastes very much to me like lemon meringue pie + green tea. It tastes like a nice balance of the two and I like the way I’m getting a slightly savory flavor from the green tea that contrasts with the sweet, dessert-like flavor of the lemon meringue pie.
The second infusion was even nicer than the first, because the lemon tones down just a little (still a very lemon-y tea!) and the green tea has become a silkier, smoother taste with a hint of creaminess that works beautifully with the marshmallow notes.
A really delightful tea. I think this particular tea is best served hot. Not piping hot like my first couple of sips were, but after it’s cooled a few minutes so that the flavors can develop but before it becomes cold to the point that it’s like iced tea. I find that the flavors become a little more muddied when the tea becomes cold. So drink it while it’s hot and it’ll be like you’re eating a piece of your favorite lemon meringue pie but without the fat and calories!
Lemon Meringue Mao Zhen Hair Needle from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Wow, that’s a mouthful. And this tea is a mouthful of deliciousness. This organic Chinese green tea is sweet with just a hint of almost salmon-like butteriness. I’ve paired it with lemon verbena, marshmallow roots and lemon-, marshmallow- and pastry- organic flavors. Be prepared to have your socks knocked off with this one..
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Lemon Meringue in a cup. . sign me up! I adore this tea. It really tastes like a slice of lemon meringue pie. I loved it so much I actually just picked up 3 more packs. When I first saw this one the site, I knew I would like it and automatically added it into my cart, just didn’t realize how much I would love it.
The dry leaf smells exactly like a homemade slice of lemon meringue pie times ten. The smell is almost overwhelming but amazing. I had people stopping by my desk and asking me if I had a lemon candle on my desk while the tea was brewing. The green tea is there and provides a fantastic richness. I think I’m going to have to order some Mao Zhen Hair Needle on its own and see what that tastes like. I think its the first time I’ve had this particular green tea and am wondering what all it is adding to the flavor.
I’m loving this one and will be sad when my stash is gone. Reminds me of my mom’s amazing lemon meringue pie. So Good! And crazy helpful for when I’m craving something pastry like while I’m on this diet of mine.
Organic Okayti Silver Needle Second Flush Darjeeling White Tea from Golden Tips
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White (Darjeeling)
Where to Buy: Golden Tips
Tea Description:
Handpicked from the most delicate and tender portions of the tea bush, early morning and just before sunrise, this Okayti White is a class apart. The fluffy silver needles are manufactured to perfection and display an opulence only found in certain select White teas. The nose to the infusion is superb with a delicate character combined with grassy notes which follow sweet hints of honey. The liquor is pale and almost colourless. The flowery character in the flavor is extremely complex and perfectly fruity. With no grassiness at all, the flavor keeps on developing in the mouth once you keep rolling it for a few seconds till it peaks and flushes your mouth with a unique sweetness. If you love white tea, you should not miss this.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh, this is a lovely white Darjeeling! It seems like the Darjeeling region focuses primarily on their black tea production, but I find that the white, green and Oolong offerings that I’ve tried to be just as delightful – if not more so! – as the black teas and so when I do discover a white Darjeeling like this one from Golden Tips, I’m a very happy sipper!
To brew this tea, I used my 2 cup teapot (it’s a little ceramic teapot) and I ‘eyeballed’ a measurement of leaves that is approximately 2 bamboo scoops. (These leaves are very fluffy and difficult to measure with an actual bamboo scoop. So I must imagine that my hand is the bamboo scoop.) Then I poured water heated to 170°F into the teapot, put the lid on the teapot and let the tea steep for 3 1/2 minutes. Then I strained the tea into my brand new mug that my daughter gave me for Christmas.
And ah! This is truly a delight to sip.
The flavor is delicate – it is a white tea! – but not as delicate as you might expect! This has a stronger, more assertive flavor than a Chinese Silver Needle, but it’s certainly not as assertive as another leaf type.
It’s sweet with a very pleasant, thick texture. The description above suggests floral notes, and I am tasting those, but I’m also tasting delicious notes of melon and sweet grape. The sweetness comes not only from these fruit notes but also a honey-esque sweetness. There is an enjoyable balance between the fruity notes, floral tones and honeyed sweetness and I like how these play on the palate.
And this is a white tea! That means multiple infusions!
The second cup is darker in color. The first cup was quite light, almost colorless! This time there’s more of a light yellow-amber color to the cup. The flavor is stronger too, but I’m finding that balance between the fruit, floral and honey notes to remain. Each of those flavors is stronger with the second infusion but the flavors are still balanced. The texture seems a little thinner than the first cup and the best way I can think of to describe this difference is that the first cup was almost “creamy” in the consistency although it didn’t taste creamy. The texture of this cup isn’t as creamy.
With later infusions, I noticed the flavors change a little. The honey notes softened somewhat and I started to pick up on distant nutty tones. The tea is still sweet, just not as honey-like. I started to pick up on orchid notes. I could taste floral notes throughout, but I couldn’t really distinguish the flower I was tasting and as I continued to steep these leaves I began to taste more defined notes of orchid and maybe even a hint of honeysuckle.
The grape notes started to become more wine-like to me, too. Like a gentle white wine, but not such a dry or astringent finish as I’d experience from a white wine. Quite lovely!
If you’re one who tends to avoid white teas because you find that they taste too delicate for you, try a Darjeeling white tea like this Okayti Silver Needle. I think you’ll find the flavor more pronounced and much more satisfying!
Kenya Silver Needle White Tea from What-Cha Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: What-Cha Tea
Tea Description:
Our Kenyan Silver Needles hits the usual notes usually associated with good quality Silver Needles while having its own unique characteristics not usually found in other Silver Needles. Kenyan Silver Needles is on the fuller side of the Silver Needle scale and features lovely soft tannins, making it perfect for those who find the more traditional Silver Needles too subtle and overly delicate. Our Kenyan Silver Needles represents a chance to try one of the great Chinese teas grown in the unique terroir of Kenya.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Most Silver Needle teas tend to be on the delicate side and this Silver Needle would be considered “delicate” if it were being compared to a green or black tea, but it’s much stronger in flavor than many other Silver Needle teas I’ve had.
But I brewed it the same way I’d brew a Silver Needle: I used my gaiwan and heated the water to 170°F. After a 15 second rinse, I steeped the first infusion for 2 minutes. I added 15 seconds onto each subsequent infusion. And one thing you’ll find with white teas – they’re ready to keep on steeping! You’ll easily get five or six infusions out of this tea – perhaps more!
The first infusion was sweet and hay-like. I also got some lovely melon notes as well as a crisp, floral note. And even though the approach of a white tea tends to be subtle, I find so many wonderful layers of flavor. I think that’s why I enjoy them so much. True, they’re not the type of tea that will get in your face with the flavor. Instead, it offers its love sweetly and gently.
The second infusion was even sweeter than the first. A little less like hay and a little more like a sweet, juicy melon! Lovely! I am noticing very little to no astringency with this cup. I did notice a wee bit of astringency with the first infusion … not much, but some. Now, not so much.
The third infusion was very much like the second – sweet, melon-like, very little astringency and very few vegetal/hay-like tones. Later infusions slowly started to become less fruit-like and I started picking up on more of the hay-like flavors again as well as hints of an airy floral quality. Imagine the “taste” of the air when you’re walking through a field of flowers. Something like that. Really beautiful and wonderful to experience as those tastes washed over the palate. I started to notice a loss in flavor by the fifth infusion. It still had a lot of flavor but not as quite as much as the four that preceded it.
This is a fantastic Silver Needle. If you’re one who tends to avoid Silver Needle White teas because you find them to be too soft in flavor … don’t give up on Silver Needle teas completely – just widen your search to include this Kenyan Silver Needle! I think you’ll find it much more flavorful!
Assam 2nd Flush 2014 Silver Needle White Tea from What-Cha Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: What-Cha Tea
Tea Description:
A great tasting Silver Needle with a delicate sweet taste and no detectable astringency.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Assam 2nd Flush Silver Needle White Tea is quite unlike any other Silver Needle White tea I’ve tried to date. So to brew it, I decided to follow the purveyor’s suggested parameters and heat the water to 175°F (OK, the parameters suggest 176°F, but my Breville heats water at 5 degree intervals, and I figured 1° wasn’t going to make or break the tea.) I measured two pinches of tea into the bowl of my gaiwan and steeped the tea for 1 1/2 minutes for the first infusion, adding 15 seconds onto each subsequent infusion.
Note: The steep time and the measurements that I used were my own, not the purveyor’s suggested parameters. I only used their temperature suggestions. What-Cha suggested 2 minutes steep time and 1 teaspoon per cup. But because I was using my gaiwan, I went with slightly more tea and slightly less time.
As I said, this tea is quite unlike any other Silver Needle Tea that I’ve experienced until now. Yes, there are some similarities to the Silver Needle teas I’ve had in the past. First of all, the leaves look very much like a silver needle, except that these are probably a little darker green than the silvery pale green that I’m used to seeing with a Silver Needle.
And there is a distinct hay-like aroma and flavor to this Assam Silver Needle, and that’s something that I typically experience with other Silver Needle teas. But the hay-like aroma here, especially in the dry leaf, is intense! It smells like the air of the countryside after a field of hay has been cut. Like within the hour of the hay cutting! It’s a strong scent. The fragrance softens when the tea is brewed, but there are still some strong hay-like notes to the cup.
And to the flavor! The hay notes are strong in the taste as well. It’s sweet and delicate – like a Silver Needle – but those sweet and hay-like flavors are stronger than in a typical Silver Needle.
If compared to a Silver Needle tea, this Assam Silver Needle would not be considered a delicate tea. But if compared to an Assam Black, then yes, this is definitely delicate in comparison.
Interestingly enough, I think that it’s appropriate to compare this Assam white tea to an Assam black because there are some similarities to the “more familiar” black tea from the Assam region. For example, I can taste notes of malt to this. I didn’t expect to. Sure, it’s an Assam tea, but, it’s a white tea … and I figured this Silver Needle would be far too delicate to detect the malty flavors. But no! There is a lovely malty sweetness to this cup.
It’s a smooth, calming drink. As the above description suggests, there is no astringency to this. It starts out sweet. The texture is silky. The aftertaste offers a delicate sweetness. I also pick up on a subtle citrus note in the aftertaste.
In later infusions, I began to notice the hay-like flavors begin to soften somewhat, not really waning, but instead, melding with the other flavors and allowing those other notes to come into focus. I started to pick up on gentle fruit notes and a lovely floral note.
A really delightful, deliciously different Silver Needle! This is another MUST TRY from What-Cha Tea. They are becoming THE source for some very unusual marvels of the tea world!